Louisiana Daily Fantasy Sports to be Delayed
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Lousisiana Representative John Stefanski, has reported that Daily Fantasy Sports in the state will be delayed until at least November. The original goal of the DFS bill was to be in place and ready by the start of the 2020 NFL season.
Now, Louisiana hopes to have it launched by the second half of the year. Stefanski, who was the one that created the DFS bill, says the state cannot continue one until all the proper steps are in place.
“I was hoping we would see fantasy sports go live in October, however, I was just informed that the Gaming Control Board is taking longer than we expected,” said Stefanski. “The Gaming Control Board has oversight of all gambling and that includes fantasy sports. … We have been pressuring them to move as quickly as possible, but so far to no avail.”
Trust the Process?
Louisiana legislation has not been kind to trying to pass Daily Fantasy Sports. Lawmakers have been slow to get DFS operating when the original plan was in place. The law was published in the Louisiana Register sooner than expected, but that has been the only good news around this situation.
This does allow the process to be sped up a bit, and the public can start commenting on the bill on September 10. The Legislative Oversight Committee will leave it open for 30 days, which will also be open to public comments and hearings.
This is good news and bad news for the DFS laws. The good news is that if everything goes smoothly, then Daily Fantasy Sports will be in Louisiana sooner than later. However, the hearings could cause even more delays and push the DFS laws back until December, which would be no bueno when trying to capitalize on a football season.
Louisianans can only hope and pray lawmakers do not screw this period up for DFS. They already pushed things back from September to November, and there is no need to push it back into 2021.
What’s the Hold Up?
If I was a betting man, I would say that the process will continue to be delayed. Daily Fantasy Sports passed in Louisiana in 2018, which was two years ago. They still do not have DFS launched in the state, which shows how big of a nightmare this situation is.
47 of the 64 Louisiana parishes approved of Daily Fantasy Sports TWO YEARS AGO. They still have nothing and still kicking the can down the road. This really just comes down to legislation being poor on the situation and not understanding that DFS could help the state.
Sports betting is next, and will most likely be voted on over the next few years. At this rate, if sports betting is on the ballot and approved, then it might not get to Louisiana until the 2030s. Seeing how the state is messing up DFS, it is only inevitable it happens for sports betting.
But hey, that’s Louisiana’s problem. If they do not want to capitalize on sports betting revenue, then tough luck. Especially, still being in the middle of a pandemic.
